Of Kidnappings and Determination
by Psychic-Ghost
Summary: A Pokemon Trainer's team is stolen by Team Rocket. However, they aren't going to take the separation lying down, and break out, ready to travel Johto to find her again. After all, what kind of a team would they be if they abandoned their Trainer?
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N: So, fun fact! Recently I got back into Pokemon, with the upcoming release of HeartGold and SoulSilver (squee! Ahem, sorry.), and back into the fandom! This is about some characters I used to have and updated so that they weren't complete, awful Sues/Stus. The story is based on a mix of game and anime(which I haven't watched in ages, I will admit) rules, but the story comes first. So if something is off, it's probably because I either didn't know X does not work that way, or it needs to for the plot. This includes Pokemon who seem to be in the wrong regions, because while I'll try to avoid it, I may not know that it's from a different one. Let me know if I put something in the wrong region, and I will do my best to avoid future mistakes. I promise to try not to screw anything up too badly. Just a heads-up. **

**Insert obligatory witty disclaimer that does absolutely nothing legally here. Also, some Pokemon behavior is based off of Chencheya's totally awesome fic, Beginning Trainer's Guide to Pokemon, which you should go read immediately after this. )**

"Blaze, use Ember! Tsunami, Water Gun!" The Trainer looked on helplessly, knowing she was fighting a losing battle – she was outnumbered, and these Team Rocket people were surprisingly tough. Shadow knew she was afraid, he could smell it, and that scared him too. He'd beaten – barely – a Nidoran one of them had used, but it had left him exhausted and weak. He still refused to return to his Pokeball, instead supporting himself against his Trainer's shin, determined to see this through. The Umbreon heard a low growl and turned his head. Another one of the weirdly-dressed humans had appeared behind them, a Raticate at his side. Shadow snarled in answer to the rodent, getting Katie's attention. She looked around, and her eyes widened. "Oh, no," he heard her mutter, before grabbing one of the Pokeballs from her belt. "Amethyst, I choose you! Confusion!" The Espeon eyed the Raticate as its human snapped, "Hyper Fang!" Amethyst focused, tail swishing as the rodent lunged. Shadow wondered, not for the first time, how she kept her cool so well. He supposed it came with being psychic. The Raticate suddenly stopped, looking dazed.

"What are you waiting for? Attack!" shouted the human. The Raticate charged – directly into a tree. Shadow winced slightly. _That had to hurt. _

Katie smirked a little. "Keep it up, Amethyst, don't give it a chance to recover!" she called, turning back to check on Blaze and Tsunami and tensed. Blaze was wrestling with a Vulpix, both snapping and clawing, while Tsunami was firing off quick bursts of water at a Beedrill, which was dodging back and forth, waiting for a chance to attack. The girl clenched her jaw, looking around again. With the last Rocket's arrival, she was cut off – nowhere to run. She knew it was bad, Spark had already had to return to his Pokeball, but she glanced down at Shadow and forced a smile and a quiet "It'll be okay, I promise." She quickly crouched down and scooped him into her arms protectively. He looked up at her for a moment, then over her shoulder at Amethyst. He was just in time to the see the Raticate flop over into an exhausted, pained heap, and then returned to its Pokeball. Looking back, he saw Blaze disentangle herself from the Vulpix, clumps of fur caught in both of their claws. Katie seized the opportunity, shouting, "Blaze, Tsunami! Switch!" They sprang into action, moving quick enough to briefly confuse their opponents as they traded places. "Now – Blaze, Flamethrower! Tsunami, use Water Gun!" She grinned as they forced the other Pokemon to go on the defensive. Katie didn't hear the calm, low voice from behind, but Shadow did.

"Houndoom. Crunch." The Umbreon hissed loudly, unconsciously unsheathing his claws. Katie looked back and gasped as the canine leapt."  
"Quick-" She wasn't fast enough. Amethyst yowled in pain as the Houndoom's jaws snapped closed on her. She stumbled, then crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Katie made a faint, scared noise before pulling herself together. "Return! Holly, let's go! Body Slam!" She checked on Blaze and Tsunami. The Flareon landed a hit on the Beedrill, which fell back, but at an order from its trainer, managed – just barely – to charge Blaze and hit hard before falling out of the air and being recalled, forcing Katie to do the same with Blaze. She looked helplessly towards Holly as the Leafeon was taken down with Fire Fang. The grunt who'd been using the Beedrill now sent out a Butterfree. Three mostly-healthy Pokemon – no, two, Shadow corrected himself as Tsunami brought down the Vulpix, but two wasn't all that much better – against one healthy and one who was almost collapsing.

He wriggled out of Katie's arms and dropped to the ground, wobbly, but determined. He eyed the Butterfree as Katie ordered Tsunami to go for the Houndoom, ignoring the Butterfree's trainer 's amused, condescending suggestion to just give up and hand over her Pokemon now. Shadow knew the order that was coming before Katie gave it. He bared his teeth and, although with an effort, blasted a Shadow Ball at the Butterfree. The insect Pokemon was knocked backwards with a pained chitter, and Shadow heard a sound of pain echoed from behind. He didn't have to look back to know who it was, Katie's fear-smell worsening was answer enough, even if she hadn't followed that with a shaky "Return." Two against one, and he was barely standing. Digging his claws into the dirt, Shadow snarled a challenge anyway. He'd be damned if he'd roll over and show his belly before he did everything in his power to protect his Trainer. He'd be damned if he did it at all!

"Sleep Powder." The man looked at his Butterfree. "Her too."

Katie snarled something insulting at him, but his Pokemon had already dived at Shadow, and his attention was given over to trying to stay awake as his eyes grew heavy. He managed a last look at Katie and saw her fold, collapsing ungracefully to the ground. And what else could he do but follow suit?


	2. Chapter 2

Shadow stirred weakly, wondering why it was so cold. For a few minutes, despite the cold, he didn't move, tired all over. Then, suddenly, he remembered and sat bolt upright, ears flattening as their tips brushed the top of the cage. He realized those humans must have stolen him while Katie was asleep. Did that mean they'd taken the others, too? Probably, right? Why just take him when they could have a whole team? What about Katie? Was she alright? Had they hurt her? He growled at the thought, claws sliding out. They'd regret it if they had, he'd make sure of that! Then again...first things first, the cage. He had to get out and find the others – taking in his surroundings, not necessarily in that order. There were Pokemon all around, in cages lining the walls, and set up like some awful library of scared, upset, or angry creatures, all wanting out. Hopeful, Shadow scanned the lines he could see, sniffing the air, pricking his ears again, trying to filter through the all the voices to try and hear a familiar one. He glimpsed yellow fur and called out hopefully. "Spark? Spark, it's Shadow!"

For a moment, there was no answer, then, "Shadow?" The Jolteon's face appeared, pressed against the bars.

"Over here! Can you see anyone else?" Shadow pressed against the cage.

"I think I see Holly, but she looks like she's still out of it. What about you?"

"I tried, but there's so many Pokemon here, I can't tell!"

"Where are we? How'd we get here?" Jolt sounded afraid, and Shadow couldn't blame him.

"I don't know where, but I think those humans kidnapped us – the ones who knocked you out?"

"Oh, no...what about Katie?"

"I know they put her to sleep, but I don't know what happened after, I was asleep too."

"Not good..."Jolt's ears went flat too, and Shadow thought he could see Jolt's fur spiking out, too. "Hey! Holly! Over here!" Shadow peered in the direction Jolt was looking, but there were too many Pokemon and cages in the way. He heard her, though.

"Spark? Is that you?"

"Are you okay? Can you see anyone else? Blaze or Tsunami or Amethyst?"

"I'm alright...um, I see Amethyst. Where are we?"

"Holly, can you hear me?" Shadow called.

"Shadow? Yeah, I hear you."

"Okay, good. Listen, those humans who attacked us kidnapped us, so we need to get out of here and find Katie. Is Amethyst awake? She might be able to do something – psychic the locks open or something, I don't know."

"I don't think it works that way, but hang on. Amethyst? Amethyst, wake up!" A pause, then an annoyed "Amethyst!" followed by a startled cry. Shadow strained to hear – Amethyst must be farther away.

"Holly? What was that for?"

"I had to wake you up somehow, if it meant pelting you with seeds, then that's what I'll do." Shadow listed as Holly explained the situation again.

"I think I might be able to do something, and I can see Blaze and Tsunami. Let me wake them up and then I'll try." Shadow waited. He couldn't hear Blaze or Tsunami, and sat, nervously grooming his ears as Amethyst hurriedly told them what was happening. For a minute, there was silence from the Espeon.

It was followed by a triumphant call from Holly. "She did it!"

"I'll get the rest of you, just hold on." Shadow purred, watching, too excited by the prospect of escape to notice the other Pokemon around them beginning to talk rapidly among themselves. Finally he saw Amethyst, followed by Blaze, Tsunami, and Holly. She stopped, turning towards Jolt, and another lock clattered to the floor. Finally she turned her attention to Shadow's cage. He gladly jumped down to the floor.

"Come on, we'd better go," he told his group.

"Wait!" someone called suddenly. Shadow turned, looking up, and saw a Machop waving through the bars to him. "Please, can't you get us out too? I can't break out of this myself, but not all the cages are this strong. We'll help you, just let us out!"

Shadow blinked, then hesitated. Did they really have time for this? How long would it be before humans showed up? Then a clamor rose up from the surrounding cages.

"Yeah, get us out of here!"

"I want to go home!"

"My trainer needs me!"

The Umbreon looked to Amethyst, who just nodded at him and opened the Machop's cage.

"Thanks!" He grinned and set to work prying other cages open. Amethyst padded down the rows, opening cages one by one, and as she did, the number of Pokemon opening cages increased exponentially. She couldn't open the cages on any other Psychic-type's cages, but others managed, mainly through brute force, often with a lot of fire heating the bars. The work wasn't easy, but with so many Pokemon working at it, it was much faster than it might have been. Shadow still couldn't help worrying, though, despite the good time they were making. He blasted open a lock, nodding a little distractedly as the Pachirisu inside hopped out, thanking him. Would there still be time to escape now? If Katie was here, would there be time to find and rescue her? Every second counted!

Finally, the last Pokemon, a Pidgey, was freed, the door the only thing between them and freedom. Amethyst started to make her way up to it, but with so many Pokemon on the floor, there wasn't a lot of room, so she had to squeeze through slowly and laboriously, sometimes climbing over someone. Shadow found himself back next to the Machop who had pleaded for them to save everyone.

The Machop looked at him curiously. "You're really determined to get out of here, aren't you, Umbreon?" He paused, then added, "Not that I'm complaining."

Shadow flicked an ear. "It's Shadow, actually. Anyway, I can't let my Trainer be all alone. So that means breaking out, doesn't it?" He stopped, then asked, a little nervously, "Do you know if these humans steal Trainers, too?"

"No, just Pokemon, I think." Shadow relaxed at that. Machop looked at him. "You know where your Trainer is?"

"No, but we'll find her. The rest of my team, I mean."

"Well, you're right. Gotta get out of here first. If you've got no clue where she is, though, you're in trouble, my friend. I mean, Johto's a big place, you know?" The Machop settled, leaning against a cage door next to him and crossing his arms as he glanced over the assembled Pokemon. Amethyst was still having a hard time, and most of the other Psychic Pokemon had ended up farther away from the door. It was hard enough for the Espeon, who was relatively small, to get through without the larger ones trying to wade through the crowd.

"We'll work something out." Shadow shook his head, not wanting to think about it.

"Uh-huh. Hold on." The Machop stood up straight again and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hey! You, Mankey, hanging off the bars! Help that Espeon over to the door so she can get us out!" The shouted order got him a bit of a dirty look, but the Mankey complied, reaching down to pick Amethyst up. He carried her over, closer to the door, where at a glare, a pair of Rattata squeezed out of the way to make space. It was enough for Amethyst to squeeze into, at least, although she was bristling a little as she was set down. Shadow knew later the fastidious feline was going to be grooming herself extra thoroughly, hating to be handled by other Pokemon, but it was the fastest way to get her over there. She reared up, bracing a paw on the wall by the door. For a long few minutes, there was silence, before Amethyst broke it with a hiss. "It won't open. I think it's reinforced against Psychics." At that everyone started talking, panic beginning to spread, before, over the din, something pounded loudly against the wall to accompany a bellow.

"All of you shut up and listen!" Shadow looked around as it grew quiet again. The speaker was a rather large Geodude – he glared around for a moment to ensure silence before he continued. "Look, if we can't break out, then we gotta make 'em let us out, right? So we gotta make them wanna come in here. If they think something's up, they will. So all of you, make as much noise as you can. Bang on the wall, rattle the cages, howl and screech as loud as you can – don't hurt anyone, either! And be ready to rush the door when it opens. Got it? Good. Now!"

Some of the Pokemon with more sensitive hearing tried to cover or plug their ears. Shadow flinched under the massive roar of sound before pulling himself together and adding his yowl to the din. Pokemon by the cages hit them over and over again, as did the ones by the walls. Some with hands slammed cage doors open and shut again, and all of them made as much noise as they could manage. Shadow even glimpsed some Magnemites crashing against each other with loud metallic clangs. The Geodude had been right – it wasn't very long before someone came to open the door, and she was instantly bowled over by the flood of Pokemon rushing out. Shadow was among the last, squeezing out as the others began to realize that no one knew where to go. He glanced at the unconscious grunt, noting that she was lucky there hadn't been any really big Pokemon or hoofed ones in that room. Amethyst made it back to the human with much more ease than the door, since now there was more room. She stopped, and after a few moments straightened up, swishing her tail. "This way." She squeezed through to lead the way at a run. Unfortunately, they didn't get far before the alarm was raised, and Shadow flattened his ears as the group ran, following Amethyst, some of the slower Pokemon being carried by faster ones. Some grunts had reached the entrance, but it would have taken nerves of steel to stand their ground against a group half the size of this one, especially since many were still thirsting for revenge on the ones who'd snatched them from their homes or Trainers. These grunts just didn't have those nerves, and fled. Some hotheaded escapees chased after them, but most preferred to just get out.

Machop had made it to the front of the pack, and now he reached the door, ramming against it. He fought with it for a moment, then it gave and he slammed it open. Immediately, they all raced outside, many blinking in the bright sun. Shadow reared up onto his hind legs in order to see better, and spotted Blaze herding Jolt and Holly towards Amethyst, who'd managed to get out of the way of the massive group. He saw Tsunami, too, looking around and seeming a little lost, and shouldered his way through the thinning crowd to her. "This way!" He guided her over to the others.

Blaze brightened at the sight of Shadow and Tsunami. "Oh, good, I was worried about you two. Quick, let's go, before they come out!" The six Pokemon dashed off, Shadow leading them, ears flat and exhilaration coursing through him. It was time to find Katie, and, if necessary, rescue her from anyone who'd hurt her.


End file.
